PIANO PIANO THE RESTAURANT
PIANO PIANO is the Italian restaurant you always wished was just around the corner.
Sophisticated and fun, PIANO PIANO serves deeply satisfying food that comes in just the right size. The menu features traditional Italian fare that’s been elevated to its most delicious self. If there’s a common thread that runs through PIANO PIANO, it’s a deep-seated soulfulness and sensuality that’s at once warm, welcoming and just plain fun.
THE FOOD
The first slow deep bite of from-scratch al dente maccheroni. A satisfying chewy crispy crunch of just thick enough pizza. Rapini, slicked with garlic and grassy olive oil, its sweetness coaxed out with gentle cooking. Fire-licked lamb, as deeply pink as the banquette cushion piping. A generous slather of golden hot polenta, strewn with eight hour ragu. A sticky sweet gelato that tingles ice cold on your tongue. The food of PIANO PIANO is soulfully satisfying, tending to your hunger like a Nonna’s instinctive touch. It’s always just enough, never heavy or precious. Every ingredient is on the plate for a reason, combining to make each dish far greater than the sum of its parts. You leave the table, perfectly full, the world a better place than when you came in, dreaming of the next satisfying mouthful that’s just a visit away.
THE CHEF
“How do you make that one great ingredient taste even better?”
It’s a question Victor Barry asks himself over and over again. From the time he was 11 and working in his uncle’s pizzeria, his imagination was captured by the magic of creating food. Victor was born with an Italian soul…
BRENDAN & VICTOR, N.O.T.L. McNab Dinner Party c1998 | PHOTO Mom
“We always knew how to throw kick-ass dinner parties for the neighbours!”
Vic met Brendan growing up in Niagara-on-the-Lake and they have always shared the same passion for “tasty & f*#kn delicious!” food and hospitality. Together they have over 40 years experience in the restaurant industry and PIANO PIANO is the first time they will have reunited after their famous McNab dinner parties. They always joked that one day they would work together again and throw dinner parties every night and now they do just that!
THE VIBE
All of our restaurants have been brought to life by working with amazing and talented Toronto-based designers.
Our Harbord Street location was brought to life by designer Tiffany Pratt with assistance from Claire Gilbert.
Our Mount Pleasant, Oakville, and Colborne Street locations, as well as our sister restaurant Piccolo Piano Pizzeria, were designed within a world without limits and boundless imagination by Alison McQuaid of Future Studio.
Our locations are proudly built by our dedicated and amazing friend Ernst Wallner who brings our whimsical interiors to life; a place all of us are proud to call home away from home.
All of our locations feature graffiti rose garden facades design by Alexandar Bacon.
Harbord Street, Mount Pleasant, Oakville, Colborne Street and Piccolo Piano Pizzeria proudly feature original artwork by Victor and Nikki's daughters, Charlotte & Sofie.
Piccolo Piano Pizzeria - 89 Harbord street
The Entranceway at Piano Piano Oakville
Artwork by Charlotte Barry & Sofie Barry
The Cantina at Piano Piano Harbord street
A LOVE STORY
FROM SPLENDIDO > PIANO PIANO
It was a dream to own a restaurant like Splendido. I first started at Splendido in 2005, as an assistant pastry chef working under Chef David Lee. In July 2009, I fulfilled my dream of owning the renowned restaurant, at the young age of 26. December 31st, 2015 was our last service and it felt amazing to leave on a high and I am extremely proud of that.
We've created so many memories here and we are looking forward to writing a new chapter at Piano Piano. I love everything about Italian food and we wanted to create a space where people felt like they were dining in my home, after all this is our second home. When people ask me what region of Italy we are cooking, I joke with them...New Jersey. The food of Piano Piano is soulfully satisfying, tending to your hunger like a Nonna's instinctive touch. Every ingredient is on the plate for a reason, combining to make each dish far greater than the sum of its parts. It's "tasty & f*#kn delicious!".
The name Piano Piano comes from "piano piano va lontano", an Italian phrase I love that translates to "slowly slowly we go further". And that's the dream...that if we slow down, take time to enjoy one another, great food, great wine then we all move together further as a family.
Piano Piano is the Italian restaurant you always wished was just around the corner, and now it is.
K I S S E S
Victor Barry
SPLENDIDO KITCHEN c2012 | PHOTO: Catherine Farquharson, Documentographer